BETHLEHEM TWP. POOR MAY GET TAX BREAK

Bethlehem Township residents who earn $5,000 or less a year won't have to pay the per capita tax under a proposal before the township commissioners.

Acting Township Manager Gail Capuano said the township would not collect about $11,600 in tax revenue by exempting those residents.

Board Vice Chairman Larry Spinato said cuts could be made in the 1994 budget if the township sees a drop in income by making the exemptions.

"To some, $5 is a lot of money. If you don't have it, it might as well be $1 million," he said.

Capuano said it's difficult to determine how the exemptions would affect the township's finances. She said the township does not calculate the amount of per capita tax not paid by the residents who are currently exempted.

The township had discussed exempting students, senior citizens and disabled persons. But Solicitor Thomas Elliott Jr. said the township would run the risk of violating state law if they based the exemptions on anything other than income.

The state legislature has only made provisions for those who earn $5,000 and less to be exonerated from the tax, he said. Basing the exemptions on income is the safest thing to do because using any other method could be discrimination, he said.

Capuano and Elliott will write a resolution for the exonerations that will be advertised and acted on by the board later this year.